According to a report, India's merchandise imports would surpass $700 billion in FY23 due to increased shipments of crude and coal

According to a research released on Wednesday by the economic think tank GTRI, the increase in imports of chemicals, electronics, crude oil, coal, diamonds, and other goods would cause India's merchandise imports to increase by approximately 16% to USD 710 billion this fiscal.

The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) also predicted that the poor global demand and recession in advanced nations would have a mild effect on the Indian economy.

Eighty-two percent of India's total imports are made up of six product categories: electronics, machinery, chemicals, pharma, rubber, and plastics; coal, coke; diamond, precious metals; petroleum, crude oil; coal; and coal.

According to GTRI co-founder Ajay Srivastava, "India's goods imports for the fiscal year ending March 2023 are anticipated to surpass USD 710 billion, up from USD 613 billion in FY'2022, an increase of over 15.8% over previous year."

It said that the expected value of petroleum imports, which comprises crude oil, LNG, and LPG, is USD 210 billion.

Crude imports increased by 53% over the previous fiscal year. India purchased crude from a variety of nations. The largest suppliers are Iraq ($36 billion), Saudi Arabia ($31 billion), Russia ($21 billion), and the United Arab Emirates ($7 billion) (USD 11.9 billion). During the previous year, imports from Russia soared by 850 percent, it continued.

Coke and coal imports into the nation are anticipated to reach USD 51 billion in 2022–2023.

Both thermal coal and coking coal are imported into India. Although thermal coal is used to produce power, coking coal is the basic material needed to make steel.

It said that steam coal imports may reach USD 23.2 billion this fiscal, a 105 percent rise compared to last year, while coking coal imports may exceed USD 20.4 billion.

Similar to this, India is expected to import $27.3 billion worth of diamonds this fiscal year, however the majority of them were exported and brought in USD 24 billion for the nation.

"India also exported the majority of the polished and cut diamonds imported. It said, "The motivations for such circular trade without creating value are unclear.

Moreover, it claimed that 98.2 billion USD, or about 13.8% of India's imports, were made up of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and rubber.

Organic chemicals, such as plastics, fertilizers, and active pharmaceutical components, are major imports.

"China accounts for 65 to 70 percent of India's API imports. To guarantee the security of our nation's health, we must revitalize the API business. It would be necessary to concentrate on the whole supply chain rather than just the first or second product, according to Srivastava, who added that India must also eliminate any inverted tariff restrictions to unleash the plastics industry.

Around 20.4 percent of India's imports, or USD 135 billion, are made up of goods related to telecom, machinery, and electronics.

According to the paper, India should be wary of subsidised imports of steel, metals, ore, and minerals since China, Korea, and Japan have surplus capacity and because exports to the EU will be constrained due to carbon border levies.

India sources the majority of its imports from nations like China, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Russia, Indonesia, Singapore, and South Korea.

India has the largest deficit, surpassing China's USD 87.5 billion total. Three industries account for 65% of China's exports to India: machinery, organic chemicals, and electronics. Plastics, fertilizers, as well as medical and scientific devices, are other important import categories, it said.

By the middle of April, the commerce ministry should announce the official export and import totals for 2022–23.

As compared to April through February of 2021–2022, imports increased to USD 653.47 billion from USD 549.96 billion.